1) Who can take part in Sustrans' Big Shift?

Any schools in the UK can take part in Sustrans' Big Shift provided they have a DfE, SEED or DE Number. Schools in Wales should click here to take part in The Big Shift/Newid Mawr.

2) Can we try the challenge before we decide to take part?

If you wish to try out the Big Shift website without entering real data, you can register with a trial account - click here.

3) I am a School Travel Coordinator, can I register my schools for them?

You can offer to help your schools register, but we recommend you get a school staff member to sign their school up as they will need to record and enter their results on a daily basis. Only one email address can be registered for each challenge.

4) I am having trouble logging in / I would like to change my password. What do I do?

Please make sure you are using the email address you registered your school with and the password you created at registration. If you are still having trouble please email bigshift@sustrans.org.uk.

On the log in page there is an option to request an email reminder of your password. When you log in there is an option to reset your password.

5) Why am I asked to verify my email address?

When you first register to take part in the Big Shift we will send you an automatic email containing a link back to the website. By clicking on this you will verify your email address is correct. Once this process has happened, and if you selected to let people see your results in our Hall of Fame, your school profile (including updates and photos) will be available for others to view.

If you didn't receive the verification email then make sure you check any different mail folders you might have in your email. You can always request to be sent the verification email again via 'My settings' in the 'My school' menu.

6) What does 'active travel' include?

For the purposes of this challenge, active travel is walking, cycling or scooting/skating to school.

7) Can we count pupils who park and stride / pedal / scoot to school?

These journeys can count as active travel if the amount of time being active is greater than the time spent in a vehicle. In this case these journeys should be logged as 'walk', 'cycle' or 'scoot/skate', depending on how your pupils travelled after getting out of the vehicle.

8) When can our school take part?

Schools can take part in the challenge at any time of year. This can be five consecutive days or five days spread out over a maximum of five weeks (e.g. the same day of the week for five weeks).

9) How can I see which schools in my area have taken part?

Look at the 'Hall of Fame' to see all the schools that have taken part in the challenge and what they have achieved. Once you have registered and we know the location of your school, you will be able to see details of other schools in your area who have taken part. You can also use our local authority search tool to identify schools taking part in your authority area.

Big Shift promotional materials and other support resources such as our fantastic 'Suss It Out' activity sheets are available to download here.

11) How are the targets worked out for each school?

Basically, the more active journeys made by pupils each day the better you will do. We use some fancy maths to produce targets that are relative to the level of active travel at your school measured at the baseline survey.

The formula for setting the targets aims to challenge schools equally depending on where they are starting from.

Small Step = ((100% - baseline) / 5) + baseline

Big Stride = ((100% - baseline) / 3) + baseline

Giant Leap = ((100% - baseline) / 2.2) + baseline

A 'Top Achiever' is any school that completes the challenge with an average of 75% or more active travel journeys to school during the five days.

12) How can I check how my school is doing?

Each day that you participate in the challenge, we will recalculate the average percentage of active travel journeys so you can see how close you are to achieving the targets. When you are logged in the website will give you detailed information and statistics on how your school is doing.

13) How can we purchase a 'Top Achiever' plaque?

Any school which averages over 75% of pupils travelling actively to school will be awarded 'Top Achiever' status and can purchase a special award plaque.

The plaques cost £25 (+VAT, postage and package), are made from recycled wood, measure 159mm across and are supplied with a hook for hanging.

14) Can our school take part more than once?

You have the option to repeat the challenge at any time and as many times in the future to try and improve on your achievement. If it's the same class/year group/cohort, you can use your original 'baseline' data to set the targets (the website will remember them) or you can choose to resubmit the data.

15) Our school isn't appearing in the 'Hall of Fame'?

During registration you have the option to ask for your school not to be included in the 'Hall of Fame'. You can change your request at any time by logging in and ticking the option box in 'School Settings' in the 'My School' tab (at the top of each page).

16) Our certificate of achievement isn't displaying properly?

Some web browsers cause the certificate of achievement to display incorrectly. Once opened, download and save the certificate to your computer. The saved file should display correctly when opened.